Leisure battery drained by Cabin Circuit

[Sambino]

Happy Christmas Everyone, I'm using my bank holiday to do some very cold Bongo fiddling.

My leisure battery has been slowly discharging when I haven't used the van for a while. I've done some investigating and there is a small current to the stereo (as expected and not enough to drain the battery) and a larger one to the Cabin circuit. I have a Willinton kit so it's the White wire that supplies this. It doesn't seem like a short because no fuses have blown, and the initial current draw is high then levels off, like it is connected to a capacitor but with some kind of continuous draw. The central locking is also supplied by this circuit which seems unusual.

Any suggestions for what could be malfunctioning? Is this how the central locking is normally connected?

Many thanks.

Sam

PS Just tried disconnecting the middle light but that made no difference.

[g8dhe]

You might want to check the fluorescent light(s) there have been reports of that causing problems, its not obvious why, but my guess would be corrosion debris around the switches causing a leak, if you undo the covers you can unplug them from the loom at connector I3-04;

[daveblueozzie]

There have been reported malfunctions with certain radios that do drain the battery in less than a week.
usually its the aldi radio that causes the problem.

[Sambino]

I'm happy it's not my stereo, it's an Alpine unit that I've had in 2 previous vehicles with no trouble.

I took the flourescent light right of and it made no difference. Weird.

Cheers for the suggestions.

[daveblueozzie]

The willinton kit normally has four wires (patches ) to the fuse box
1 goes to the cab lights,
1 goes to the ciggy socket (do you have anything plugged in front and rear ciggy sockets)
and the other two go to the electric blinds (if you have them)
the patches also connect to the radio and the central locking via one of the fuses.

[MountainGoat]

I also have a Willinton kit fitted and encountered exactly the same problem. to get round it I use an Isolating battery terminal which I got off ebay fitted to my leisure battery. With my internal lights, clock, blinds, radio and fridge working off my leisure battery everything is shut down apart from the alarm and central locking on the drivers door which work off the starter battery, so absolutely no drain on the Leisure Battery apart from natural loss when parked up for a month or two. I once unknowingly left my fridge on which is connected directly to the Leisure battery and not through the PMS Unit and flattened my leisure battery, no chance of that happening now with the isolating battery terminal fitted.

Tony

[g8dhe]

Which fuse is the White wire replacing ? The left hand fuse controls quite a few circuits including, mainly "stay alive" circuits as its not switched via the ingition;
X03-8 10 Amp
30 Engine - Control System - WL-TAT
32 Engine - Control System Ignition - FE-E
38 Engine - Control System Ignition - J5-DE
82 Air conditioning - Auto A/C Control System & Heater - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
90 Chassis related - EC-AT Control System - FE-E, J5-DE
100 Interior lighting - Cargo Room & Spot Lights - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
102 Accessories - Audio System - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
104 Accessories - Car Navigation System - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
108 Body - Power Door Lock System - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
116 Body - Auto Free Top - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
124 Body - Sound Warning System - WL-T, FE-E, J5-DE
The number preceding the descriptions are the BWM page numbers for 1997-1999 models. See the link above for the on-line manual.

[dandywarhol]

Have you a multi disc cd changer on your radio? They consume about an amp for around 20/30 seconds before settling down

[g8dhe]

Just had another thought the AFT light is on that circuit as well, if the switch hasn't operated when the AFT comes down then the light can be left on and won't always be visible ?

[madmile]

I would double check the radio - Its unlikely to be a problem as its an Alpine, but in your other vehicles, it would have had an ignition switched feed for the main part and a premanent one for the memory. Now its all permanent feed from your leisure battery.

[andyfb78]

I had been struggling with this for a while, but finally found three things:

Have you used a multi-meter to find out the size of the drain?

Stereo permanent feed will be very small, mine was 0.02A, so happy it wasn't that.

however I discovered that the voltmeter I have permanently wired into the cab draws 0.1A, I have now added a switch.

Also leisure batteries need charging carefully after they have been fully drained a few times, I bough a good charger (Ctek jobby) and gave it a good deep recovery charge. The battery is is no longer flat after a few days of sitting doing nothing. So might be worth looking at the battery state.

My central locking doesn't draw any current (to 3dp) on my multimeter, unless operating.

I found the leaks by using the mutltimeter and removing fuse by fuse until the drain disappeared.

Good luck
Andy

[Sambino]

Thanks for the suggestions. I got rather busy towards the end of the holidays and didn't have any more time for Bongoing. I've just disconnected that feed to save the battery for the time being.

I'll keep you posted if I fix it or uncover anyhting useful.

[Jaws]

After re wiring the cabin supply to the leisure battery I had a similar nagging problem. This turned out to be due to a 12v to 100v inverter supplying a socket in the rear of the van. Despite no power being drawn, the inverter was sucking up juice.

It was easy enough to disconnect, pending a decision as to it's fate

[Bin Bongoed]

There have been reported malfunctions with certain radios that do drain the battery in less than a week.
usually its the aldi radio that causes the problem.

Ha!! That explains my problem.

Or this?

After re wiring the cabin supply to the leisure battery I had a similar nagging problem. This turned out to be due to a 12v to 100v inverter supplying a socket in the rear of the van. Despite no power being drawn, the inverter was sucking up juice.

Something to check out , thanks guys